@Kelly149
Thanks Kelly, you are always full of kind words but, the last thing I would ever want to do, or be seen as, would be a 'miser'. We have lived a good full life, and still are.
I came from privilege, my mother and father were given a 2,000 acre property with a 50 square homestead on it within 50 miles of our state capital as a wedding present.....as were each of dad's two other brothers. Back in the 50's we had our own private swimming pool just outside the door, not something many private residences had back then.
I took the girls back there 3 years ago to show them where I started out.
Although coming from a farming dynasty maybe my father wasn't cut out for farming, he ran it during the most profitable time in Australian farming history. Apart from the loss of personnel, Australia was largely unaffected by the last world war. At its conclusion Europe and much of SE Asia was devastated, America was in a state of re-building, the world needed resources and we here on Oz either grew it, or dug in out of the ground, and the rest of the world beat a path to our door for it. I remember during the Korean War dad got a 'pound per pound' for sheep wool........ 240 pence per pound of weight. It was almost 25 years before those sort of returns were seen again!
Anyway he had a breakdown, sold the farm, virtually gave it away in 1958. He realized he had done the wrong thing but it was too late by then. We moved to town and dad took to the booze and over the next 20 years everything disappeared to the point where all I inherited was half a years average salary.
He never really gave me a shot at it Kelly, and I didn't want to ever do the same thing for my kids. We have given them the best life possible, we have built up something of an estate and we are still going to be able to leave them a legacy.
I haven't been great with money either always wanting to have the latest and the best but I have just fallen into a few good decision as well.
I am not now from a life of privilege....but I am privileged to have had the life I have had.
Cheers........Rob